Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 93 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3 shares during the period. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $330,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Booking by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 383,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,184,224,000 after purchasing an additional 5,040 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd grew its stake in Booking by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 149,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $462,290,000 after buying an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Booking by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 131,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $466,166,000 after buying an additional 29,316 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Booking by 2,479.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $414,234,000 after buying an additional 112,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,774,850,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Booking news, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 59 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,700.00, for a total transaction of $218,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,069,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Paulo Pisano sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,485.00, for a total transaction of $1,045,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,752,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,461 shares of company stock worth $18,815,825. Insiders own 0.15% of the company’s stock.

Booking Price Performance

NASDAQ BKNG traded down $62.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $3,452.76. The stock had a trading volume of 165,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 263,263. Booking Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,456.93 and a 1 year high of $3,918.00. The stock has a market cap of $117.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $3,543.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $3,391.38.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $32.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.72 by $2.28. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 751.49%. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $24.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 176.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Booking Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $4,100.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 price target on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,600.00 to $3,950.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Booking from $4,000.00 to $4,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,723.41.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.